Should I apply for benefits?

@Username_removed said: 

1 - have a copy of your claim pack in front of you during the call so you can quickly refer to what you said. The assessor ought to have had a copy and read it but i suspect some are working from home at present and have limited access to technology so you can’t assume they’ve seen it.

2 - strange as it sounds, have food and drink nearby. Most calls aren’t taking as long as face to face assessments but if it does then make sure you’ve a snack nearby.

3 - have a copy of the PIP points system nearby. I always find this one handy at https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-points-system.

4 - be prepared for them to ring earlier than the time they’ve given you. Cancellations can cause havoc with their day as can people simply not answering the phone.

5 - do not assume they know anything about your conditions. They will only know the clichės and stereotypes. It may be worth politely asking them at the outset what they know and offering them explanations if it’s obvious they don’t know much. 

6 - the key to PIP is not being able to do things “reliably”. See the page from Benefits and Work above on this. The assessor will try to get you to give yes or no answers. You should try and resist this. They’re looking for you to say that you can do things. You need to pause and try to explain not that you can do things but instead say something along the lines of “no, I can’t do that reliably” and then explain why not e.g. you can’t do it safely, to a reasonable standard or in a reasonable time. Again see the web site about what reliably means.

7 - take notes as you go along or have someone you trust sat absolutely silently in the background taking notes. Those notes could help a lot further down the line.

8 - try to go in with a positive attitude to the assessor. This can be difficult but generally telephone assessments have, anecdotally, been better than face to face assessments as a number of the things which can go wrong face to face can’t happen over the telephone. They can’t watch you walking into the centre and draw wrong conclusions. They can’t conduct eye tests in poorly lit rooms and so on.